


A Touch of Possibility

by UmbraeCalamitas, WhinyWingedWinchester



Series: A Touch of Possibility [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Caleb Widogast Needs a Hug, Canon-Typical Violence, Character Death, Episode 26 spoilers, Feelings, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Magic, Mighty Nein as Family, Nott | Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast Friendship, Prologue, c2 e32, dodecahedron, post episode 26
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-08 19:15:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27391825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbraeCalamitas/pseuds/UmbraeCalamitas, https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhinyWingedWinchester/pseuds/WhinyWingedWinchester
Summary: After everything they had been through, their friends being captured, losing one of their own, the battle with the Iron Shepherds and everything that came after, the two weeks of quiet in Zadash… helped.In some ways, though, it wasn’t enough.Traveling back to Trostenwald had been like… stepping back in time.And perhaps that’s where the idea began.
Relationships: Nott | Veth Brenatto & Caleb Widogast, The Mighty Nein & Caleb Widogast
Series: A Touch of Possibility [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2006536
Comments: 2
Kudos: 20





	A Touch of Possibility

**Author's Note:**

> Trips and I are sliding into yet another Critical Role fic, and welcome! This is a series. It is complete and just waiting to be posted. 
> 
> Once again, please do not post any spoilers beyond c2e32 in the comments, both for other readers and for Trips and myself, who are not yet caught up.

After everything they had been through, their friends being captured, losing one of their own, the battle with the Iron Shepherds and everything that came _after,_ the two weeks of quiet in Zadash… helped. 

In some ways, though, it wasn’t enough. 

Traveling back to Trostenwald had been like… stepping back in time. 

And perhaps that’s where the idea began. 

No. No, it began before that. In the Library of the Cobalt Soul, when he found a book that told of magics bending time itself. 

But the decision to move forward with the idea. _That_ happened in Trostenwald. 

It was fitting. _Where it all began._

* * *

The dodecahedron was a magnificent item of immense power. Caleb could see that. He spent time - days - over the course of their sojourn in Zadash studying the item, staring into depths that allowed him to see stars and galaxies and the things that lay beyond. Even his years of study had not prepared him for the experience of examining the orb, and even after studying it, it took him time to… ruminate on what he had seen. 

He spent the cart ride to Trostenwald thinking about it. About lines, dark in color, striking some _point,_ and changing direction. About other lines, faded, continuing on other paths until they disappeared from sight, faded out of existence. 

Out of possibility. 

Caleb’s mind continued to ruminate over his growing understanding of the dodecahedron as Gustav listened to them speak of Mollymauk. As they told _yet another person_ that Mollymauk was gone. 

Caleb was so very tired of telling people that the colorful tiefling had gone. Every time they had to speak of it, the grief rose fresh in him. There was something to be said of living for someone else. And living in their honor. 

But sometimes the mind was cruel and, for Caleb at least, he struggled to forget. 

And he struggled. And he couldn’t forget. 

In the end, perhaps that was what made it all possible. 

* * *

Nott was keeping a close eye on Caleb as they wandered through Trostenwald, but her attention wasn’t all there, admittedly. She was worrying over the letter she’d sent to ask about _Astrid_ , worrying about whether Caleb was going to be mad at her for it. She was worrying about the pale set to Beau’s face and the way Jester seemed to be more set than usual on causing chaos and wreaking havoc. She didn’t like how Fjord had vanished, and refused to share where he’d been. She missed Yasha, her steady presence usually enough to help keep the others in line.

She missed the familiar warmth of Mollymauk Tealeaf walking between her and Caleb, the tiefling’s warm spicy scent filling the air as he waved his arms and held Caleb’s hand. 

Nott was tired of telling people that he was gone. 

And she was watching their new companion. Caduceus Clay. He was odd, but she trusted him almost right away. He was _their_ kind of odd. Though she couldn’t help but think Mollymauk would have found him fantastic, too. 

Nott sighed and pulled her hood down further over her face, and followed in Caleb’s dragging footsteps as they approached their destination. 

The empty field where Molly’s home had been. She heard the others all sigh and Caduceus ask quietly why they were here. 

Nott bit her tongue, the words _shut up_ burning her mouth. She swallowed them and sighed. 

“We’re just… saying goodbye again,” she muttered. 

“Seem to be doing that a lot,” Beau muttered. Her voice was bitter and she crossed her arms across her chest, but there was a heavy weight in her eyes. “Wonder if we’ll ever stop.”

Caleb cleared his throat roughly and huffed a laugh that held no humor. “No,” he said, not looking away from the field. “No, it never stops.” 

Fjord grunted and crossed his arms. The field was empty, a few flattened areas remaining where the tents had been. 

And a single scrap of brilliantly bright and patterned fabric. 

“Fuck,” he spat and stormed over to snatch it off the ground. Molly had been complaining about losing a patch from his hem during the fight, telling Fjord one night as they sat drunk and cheerful that it’d been his most favourite. 

“ _Bright blue,”_ _Molly had sighed and leaned his head heavily on Fjord’s shoulder._ “ _But not too bright, you know? And it had the symbol of the Moonweaver embroidered in the most beautiful shades of red and silver, Fjord.”_

He looked down at the scrap and clenched his fist around it. “Not too bright,” he muttered. 

“Fuck all this,” Beau grumbled, and walked away. 

Caduceus watched her go, a curious tilt to his head, before looking back at the spot of ground. “It seems to me that this is just a place. Same as any other.” He studied the open field.

“This is where it all started,” Jester said quietly. 

_“Nein,”_ Caleb murmured. “It started in the Nestled Nook Inn. Mollymauk came in with Yasha and introduced himself.” 

_“Well. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen a group of people more in need of a good time in my entire life. Mollymauk Tealeaf of the Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Carnival of Curiosities. If there was ever a group of people that needed a good time to go out, have a laugh, see things that you have never seen before…and my god, take my word for it. One month’s time, people will be buying your ale to hear the tale of what you saw at the Traveling Carnival of Curiosities this night.”_

He remembered it perfectly. The way the colorful tiefling had swanned about the room, the largest thing in there despite the fact that Yasha was twice his size. 

How he’d captured Jester’s attention and wooed her with all the mystery and playfulness in his grasp.

_“Mollymauk Tealeaf, Molly to my friends, and we’re_ ** _friends_** _now, aren’t we?”_

He’d brought them all together, really, with an invitation to a circus. He’d been a charlatan and an expert entertainer, and such a liar, but he’d been their friend. 

“He was the reason we are the Mighty Nein,” Caleb said quietly, glancing over at Caduceus briefly before his eyes traveled to the field. “This is where we fought together the first time.” 

Caduceus made an understanding noise. “Battles do tend to bring people together.” He had experienced that firsthand - battle and these people’s grief at losing one of their own. 

He studied the area once more before he moved over to Fjord. “May I see that?” 

Fjord’s fist clenched tighter around the fabric before he handed it over. “Don’t… grow shit on it.” 

Caduceus didn’t bother to explain how the piece of fabric wouldn’t offer the proper nutrients to any plants he might grow. He studied the fabric for a time, taking in the colors and designs, and the general feel of it. 

“Hm.” Crouching down, he dug his fingers into the earth and pushed his magic down into it. He smiled to himself at the sense of life all about, at the memories in the earth here. This was a good place. This place… it would grow. 

He rose back up to his feet, shaking the dirt from his hand, and smiled at Fjord as he handed the fabric back. “I think they’ll look nice here.” 

Jester frowned in confusion. “What will look nice?”

Caduceus turned his smile onto her. “Whatever decides to grow.” 

Nott stayed silent as Fjord stuffed the fabric scrap back into his pocket and turned away, stomping off in the opposite direction from Beau. Caduceus seemed content to stay where he was, standing beside Jester and simply looking at the ground. 

But Nott watched Caleb. 

And then she reached carefully to tug on his hand. “Caleb,” she whispered. “Why don’t we go and you can have a nap? You look terrible.”

His lips turned up slightly in humor as he looked down at her. “Do I?” He hadn’t been sleeping well. Or, he hadn’t taken much time to sleep. He had too much that he’d wanted to do and resting simply hadn’t factored in. 

Caleb looked back at the field where the Fletching and Moondrop Traveling Circus had once settled, but it was only a field now. 

Tightening his hand around Nott’s, he nodded softly. “I think I could use a nap.” 

“Okay.” Nott just held tight to Caleb’s hand as they walked slowly back to the Nestled Nook Inn, and sniffled quietly as they walked past their table. Jester’s dick etching was still there, and for a moment, Nott could see Mollymauk, tipped back in his seat, ankles crossed as he gestured and sold Jester her fortune for two copper pieces. “C’mon, Caleb,” she whispered when his steps faltered there too. “Bed’s upstairs.” 

She wondered for a moment, just _what_ had really been between her wizard and the circus man. Caleb hadn’t ever told them, and Molly had always just winked. 

Caleb let Nott guide him into the bed, fussing over him as she tugged up the blankets and tucked him in. He smiled fondly at her, but his eyes were damp and her image was blurred. Still, he reached out and cupped her cheek. 

“I can’t forget anything, _schatz._ I remember it all so well, but it is _gone._ That is the part I sometimes forget.” 

“I know,” Nott whispered and climbed up to sit beside him, her head resting on his chest. “But, it’ll be okay, Caleb. We’re - we’re going to be okay.” 

_“_ **_An example it is then.”_ ** _The sound of Molly’s bloodied spit hitting Lorenzo’s cheek, the wrench of the glaive as it tore through muscle and bone._ **_“Respect.”_ **

_Bright red eyes that hadn’t closed till Caleb slid them shut._

“I’m sorry, Caleb.”

Caleb rolled over and pressed his face against her stomach, holding onto her. 

He didn’t sleep for a long time. 

* * *

“‘Lo Cad,” Fjord mumbled and tipped his tankard back to empty it again. The sun had set hours ago now, and Beau was a sniffling, snoring wreck in the chair beside him. “Ya picked a pretty shit time to join us. I feel for ya, man. I really do.” 

He set the empty wooden mug down and sighed, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes. “Mollymauk was… somethin’ to all of us. Ain’t gonna be easy to just get on with it, y’know?” He looked over at the firbolg folding his lanky frame into the seat across from him. “I’m pretty sure he an’ Caleb were in love with each other, and y’all just…” he waved a hand. “Fucked if I know anymore.” 

Caduceus made an understanding noise. “It’s always difficult to see the things we love go.” He tilted his head. “I think I would have liked your Mollymauk. He sounds like he was a swell guy.” 

Fjord waved the barmaid over for another beer and nodded at Caduceus. “Yeah,” he took the offered drink and finished half of it in one swallow. “Fuckin’ swell guy.” 

He dragged a hand over his mouth, shoved the rest of the drink at Caduceus and then got unsteadily to his feet. “‘m gonna take Beau to bed,” he grunted. “Night, Caduceus.” 

Fjord got an arm underneath Beau, ignored the half-drunk yell of _“We fuckin’ fightin’?”_ and shoved her over his shoulder, one hand on her ass to keep her still. “C’mon Beauregard, bedtime.” He gave the firbolg another nod, glanced at where Jester was sitting at the bar and carving something into it, and then headed up the stairs to the room they were all sharing. 

Caduceus sniffed the drink Fjord had handed him and grimaced. He’d tried this stuff and he didn’t like it. 

Rising from his seat, he made his way over to the bar where the young tiefling was sitting. She had a dagger in her hand and was working diligently at carving something into the wood. 

“Is this a practice done commonly out here?” He settled in the seat next to her. 

“What? Carving dicks? No, not really.” She kept working. “Some people don’t like it, but I carved a dick in that table over there the first time we were here, when we met Molly. So I want to do one today, since we’re saying goodbye.” She leaned over, grinning at Caduceus, and whispered loudly, “Don’t tell the others but it’s _Molly’s_ dick. I think he’d be proud!” 

Caduceus smiled at her and watched her as she went back to her carving. When she’d finished with the art, she paused a moment, and then began to carve words beneath it. 

“Okay!” she said after a few minutes. “I think I’m going to go to bed now.” She slid off the stool and grinned at him. “Goodnight, Caduceus! See you in the morning!”

“Goodnight,” he said, and watched her make her way up the stairs. When she’d gone, he leaned over and looked at what she’d done. 

A surprisingly good picture of a dick had been carved into the wood and beneath it were the words **_Molly was here._ **

* * *

Leaving Trostenwald the next day was harder than coming back had been. Nott kept a wary eye on Caleb, who despite her best intentions, hadn’t slept more than an hour or two at most. He was pale, shaky and unwell looking. 

Beau was hungover, slumped in the cart and refusing to speak, Fjord’s cloak over her head to keep the sun out. Jester was oddly quiet as well, sitting with her chin hooked over the edge of the cart, watching the town disappear behind them. Their newest member hadn’t spoken much other than to say how lovely the sunrise had been. 

Nott personally thought it looked like all the rest. An explosion of colours that once hadn’t meant anything at all. Now… now it was like watching Mollymauk move through a crowd as he grinned and laughed and bought useless trinkets to hide in Caleb’s pockets, or pastries to squirrel in Jester’s. It was a splash of deep purple like his hair, the red of his eyes and the blue he’d lined his coat with. The silver stars winking out were the gaudy baubles in his horns and hair and Nott _missed him._

She sniffed, and drew her hood down further over her face, scrunched down into the corner and watched Caleb carefully. She very badly regretted sending the letter. Whoever Astrid was, she couldn’t possibly make Caleb feel any better right now. Caleb needed Mollymauk Tealeaf. 

Part of her wondered if either of them had ever acted the _thing_ between them before Molly left them, and the sound of Molly’s laughter in the air around her at the thought made her eyes burn. 

Caduceus’ right ear flicked back, taking in the sounds of his companions. They weren’t doing well. That much was certain. He hadn’t known them very long at all, but the pain each of them carried was clearly visible. 

Unfortunately, he didn’t know how to help them. Death was a natural part of life, and for Caduceus, it had been a normal part of his life. One looked on with reverence and kindness, and rarely upset. He understood that his explaining that death gave way to new life would offer them no comfort, so he kept from saying anything of the sort. 

His eyes traveled to the field they had visited the day before as they passed. It was too early for his magic to have formed anything, but he looked for it nonetheless. 

And then they continued on, leaving Trostenwald behind. 

The road they traveled was quiet. Caduceus didn’t know if this was normal for this area or not, but the silence was familiar enough to him. 

Halfway through the day, he and Caleb switched spots, leaving Caduceus to sit in the back. Caduceus considered arguing that Caleb needed to _sleep,_ not mind the horses, but he’d spent all morning listening to the man mutter to himself in Zemnian. Perhaps what he really needed was a distraction. 

So he sat in the back next to Jester as Caleb took the reins, and he asked her about the thing in her bag that Caleb had mentioned. He stared into the strange orb and saw… nothing. 

“Curious,” he said, handing the orb back to Jester to tuck away. 

“It’s cool, right? How do you feel?”

Caduceus smiled at her and shrugged one shoulder. “Much the same, really.”

“Huh. You must be a lucky guy.” 

He caught sight of Caleb’s eyes on Jester’s bag, an odd look of disappointment in them. Like he’d been expecting something that hadn’t happened. 

That was a shame. 

* * *

“This fuckin’ sucks,” Fjord muttered and glared up at the rain pouring down outside of Caleb’s little magical shelter. They’d barely managed to stop before the skies had abruptly clouded over and then opened up within a few minutes. “Damnit!” 

He’d wanted to put more distance between fucking Trostenwald and themselves than this. 

Fjord stomped over to where his bag was and laid down, his bag the worst pillow in the world, but better than nothing. They’d eaten dried meat and fruit, though Caduceus had managed to pull fresh fruit from somewhere for himself, and set about making themselves as comfortable as they could. 

They were all pretending not to notice the bright coat sleeve poking from the top of Beau’s bag. 

He rolled over and closed his eyes. 

The night passed slowly, and the storm only intensified. Beau sat in the center of Caleb’s spell and stared out at the purple flashes of lightning and the rain. 

“I wish Yasha was here.” Although she would have been leaving now if she was. She always left when it stormed. “Do you think she’ll come back?”

Nott shrugged, not knowing if Beau was speaking to her or to anyone else. “I don’t know,” she said honestly when no one else answered. “I don’t think so. She was… Molly was _hers_ , you know?” 

“And we got him killed,” Caleb said softly. 

Nott winced, and Beau flinched. The entire magical hut went deathly silent. 

“I’ll miss her too then,” Nott said eventually. “Yasha is…” she couldn’t think of the words, but Beau’s grunt of agreement meant that they all understood, at least. “I will take first watch with Caduceus,” Nott murmured when they’d all fallen quiet and still again. 

She crawled over to Caleb and hugged him tightly, slipping a little velvet pouch into his hand. “Mollymauk made me promise not to steal from happy people,” she whispered, “so I waited for a night when he wasn’t happy. I think he _let_ me take it. This is for you, Caleb.” Nott rubbed her cheek against Caleb’s scruffy one, and then scrambled away to sit in Caduceus’ lap for the first watch. 

Caleb watched her go, then turned his attention to the small pouch. He loosened the string and upturned it on his hand. 

He wasn’t sure what he expected - coins, maybe, or more likely buttons, and the mere thought made his lips twitch up fondly. But it wasn’t either of those things. 

The sun charm that Molly had worn on his horn from the moment they first met him fell into his hand with a tiny _clink._ Caleb pushed it around with his finger, righting it, and stared at it for a long time. 

When he finally laid down, head pillowed on one arm and one of his books digging into his ribs, he kept the charm clenched tightly in his hand. 

His dreams were filled with exploding stars and lines of fate racing from points where choices were made. 

When he woke in the morning, the storm was raging even more strongly. Caleb was amazed he had slept through it. 

* * *

“Fuckin’ giants,” Fjord said dumbly. “What - what the _fuck_.” 

Caduceus was chatting with the giants, because of course he was, and they were just sitting in the cart and hoping to get through as they had with the guards at the gate. 

How was this their life now? 

Fjord turned out of habit to where Molly had always sat, opened his mouth to make a joke about _giant dicks_ \--

and saw nothing but Beau’s bag crammed into it, a small fold of Molly’s stolen coat hanging from beneath the top flap. Fjord bared his teeth and drew his sword. 

“Fjord?” Jester asked, eyeing the sword in his hand and the giants who, up to this point, had been fairly friendly thanks to Caduceus. An open weapon might change that, though. 

“This ain’t gonna end well,” Fjord grunted. “May as well be fuckin’ prepared, y’all.” 

He grit his teeth at the first shout from another hidden giant, and rolled his shoulders, ready to fight. 

He wondered if this fight would end with another rough grave marked by a coat. 

* * *

They almost made it through the valley without needing to fight. Caduceus had the giants arguing amongst themselves and they _nearly_ managed it. 

And then they were in the midst of a battle. 

They had learned over the course of the last couple months to fight well together. Even Caduceus, new to their group, moved well with them. 

And then everything… went wrong. 

Caleb was pretty sure it was his fault. He misjudged the giant’s reach. He was only glad that the giant’s club struck hard enough that his brain simply couldn’t register the pain his body was surely in. 

It seemed to be having trouble registering a lot, in fact. 

Caleb lay where he’d been thrown, staring up at the rain. Lightning was still flashing, purple-white in the dark sky, and it was funny, but he didn’t think he’d ever watched a storm so closely before. 

_"LET ME GO! Fuck!”_

Fjord flinched at the venom in Nott’s voice and then again when she _bit him_ to make him let go. 

Caleb was… well. He’d seen dead shit wash ashore less mangled than he was. Fjord was done. The giants were dead, the other had fled. They were just… sitting now. He blinked, and wondered when Beau had taken Molly’s coat out. 

She spread it over Caleb and he understood. He’d stay to bury Caleb, and he was leaving. 

“Caleb! _CALEB!”_ His ears and his heart hurt from the pain in Nott’s voice. 

Fuck this. 

Caleb blinked tiredly up at the sky. And wasn’t that strange? He thought he could sleep now. Perhaps the nightmares would even leave him alone. 

Vaguely, from a distance, he heard Nott screaming his name. He forced his attention away from the flashing lightning to the small goblin above him. 

He forced a smile. _“Kostbares Mädchen,”_ he whispered, and raised a hand to cup her cheek. “I am sorry. I misjudged that.” 

Nott whined, a high painful noise that made her throat ache. “Caleb,” she shook his shoulders. “Stay awake! Jester and Caduceus they - they’re going to heal you! Okay? You can’t leave me! You’re not allowed to!”

She dug her claws into his skin. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered. “Please. Molly can wait. _I_ need you!”

“Of course I will not leave you. You are my girl, aren’t you?” He smiled fondly at her, stroking her cheek. “I did not tell you - foolish, I know. I should have. But I love you very much, _schatz._ I did not think I could love anyone else after everything, but there you were.” 

“I love you too.” Nott’s broken whisper somehow echoed over the wreck of the impromptu battlefield, louder than the storm raging above them. “Caleb? I love you. Please don’t go?” 

Fjord looked at where Caduceus was carefully healing Jester, and closed his eyes. The firbolg had taken a single look at the ruin beneath Mollymauk’s coat and shaken his head. Just once.

Nothing he could do. 

“ _Caleb_?”

“I was going to fix it, _schatz,”_ Caleb said distractedly. His eyes were back on the sky. He thought he knew why Yasha and Molly were so close. He _looked_ like a storm. Or the storm looked like him. All purple and constantly moving. 

“I almost had it, I thought. I almost… I was going to bring him back to us.” Funny, how the lightning seemed to blur with the darkness. It was quite lovely.

“It’s not worth losing you,” Nott whispered. “I know you loved him, but he’s gone. Stay, Caleb.” Molly’s coat was soaked with blood and rain, mud plastered to it and smudging the patterns and colours. _Again._

_“You called me magical once. Told me I was the only magical thing around.” A soft laugh and a noise Nott knows means Caleb is embarrassed._

_“Ja…”_

_“I think you’re more magical than you let on. You outshine me, Mister Caleb.”_

“Did I, _schatz?”_ Caleb tried to focus on her. “Is that what love feels like? I know with you, sweetheart. But _Molly?”_

Nott felt cold. Caleb wasn’t calling her _Schatz._

He’d said it in common. 

She swallowed. “Tell me how he made you feel,” she whispered. Maybe… maybe she could give him this at least. Peace in his heart with the knowledge he’d been loved in return by a man with stars in his soul. 

The others were moving closer, a circle around them. A silent vigil as they watched Caleb die. 

At least he wasn’t in pain, Nott thought. The fact that his lower half was mostly mush probably helped with that. 

“Oh, rather silly, really,” Caleb murmured. “And sometimes far too… exposed. It is strange to be seen, sweetheart. Strange to _want_ to be seen, but he always saw us, didn’t he?” 

“He did… and he loved you so very much, Caleb.” Nott sniffled and wiped her nose carelessly on her wrist. A hand landed heavily on her shoulder, and she leaned into Fjord. “We all love you,” she said hoarsely. “Caleb?” 

Fjord squeezed and the others came closer, Beau resting a hand on Caleb’s leg, Jester unnaturally silent at his head. The last of the true Mighty Nein saying farewell.

Again. 

“You can… can close your eyes now, if you’re tired,” Fjord said quietly, voice rough with grief and Nott wanted to punch him. 

Caleb couldn’t —

Not yet. Let her be selfish. 

Caleb hummed noncommittally. “I _am_ very tired,” he admitted. “I think I could sleep. Would that be alright, sweetheart? I know we should keep going.” 

The world had an oddly dimming quality to it. He tried to look up to see if the storm had stopped, and perhaps it had. The sky was dark, but for the stars. So many stars. More than he’d ever seen in the sky before. 

Stars all around, but he struggled to see the others now. His hand reached out, trying to find them. “Nott?” 

_“Well well, Mister Caleb. Don’t you look a fright?”_

Nott wanted to scream. Could everyone else hear that?! 

_“Do you know, I think I have just the thing. Seriously, best whisky this side of the Empire. I’ll take you right there. And a library so grand you’ll never run out of books.”_

Go away! 

_“And, of course, the eternal companionship of yours truly. What do you think, Mister Caleb?”_

**Go away!**

“Caleb,” Nott gasped, “C-Caleb…” he was so pale. So fucking _tired looking_ … 

Nott dropped her head to his throat and gripped his hand tight as she sobbed. “Close your eyes,” she managed a moment later, “and get some rest, Caleb Widogast. You - you’ve earned it. I love you. So _fucking_ much.”

Caleb sighed in relief and reached up to stroke her head. “I love you, Precious Girl. It is alright. I will see you in the morning, _ja?_ And we will go to the Menagerie Coast and let Jester introduce us to those pastries she loves so much. I would like to see the sea, I think.” 

He smiled fondly, eyes tracking the sky. There were some stars that were so _bright,_ so _close,_ and he watched strange lines, like dark comets, shooting from one to the next. It looked familiar but he could not think of why. 

“I think Mollymauk will like the sea, too. He has not said, but I bet he is looking forward to it.” 

“ _I’ve always wanted to see the sea,”_ the voice sang out softly and Nott knew they all heard it now, as Mollymauk’s voice drifted in the wind. _“Come and rest, lay here with me. We’ll go together in the morning, beloved.”_

Nott just closed her eyes. “I love you,” she whispered and held tight to Caleb’s hand in hers. “I love you.”

It was a strange thing, Caleb thought, going to sleep amongst the blazing light of stars. He thought that he should have been afraid, but he could feel Nott’s hand in his, and another curled about his hip, Mollymauk chuckling warmly in his ear. 

He squeezed Nott’s hand in his, finding that he was simply too tired to speak. But she would know, even though he had never said so before. He loved her. 

He would tell her more, from now on. He promised himself. He would not let anyone think they were unloved because he was too embarrassed to say so. 

The burning line of light shooting from one star to the next seemed to go still, time and space pausing as he watched. He stared up at it, smiling in bemusement as it began to retreat, the light disappearing as it ate up its path in the reverse. 

How strange. 

The burning warmth of Mollymauk’s hand on his hip tightened and Caleb turned toward him. He caught a flash of a smile, ruby eyes, and then the stars were exploding all around him. Galaxies forming all for him to watch. The world being born anew. 

He let himself fall into it, raised his hand to try and catch a star…

And Caleb Widogast passed away quietly on the edge of a nameless road, surrounded by what remained of the Mighty Nein.


End file.
